LSU Dominates Texas A&M, but Florida’s Surge Pushes Tigers Out of Top 10
A 35-6 win at Tiger Stadium steadied LSU after its loss to Ole Miss. In Sunday’s rankings, a shakeup elsewhere in the SEC carried more weight.
BATON ROUGE, La. — LSU gave the home crowd plenty to celebrate Saturday night. By Sunday, the Tigers had slipped one place in the AP Top 25 despite routing No. 23 Texas A&M 35-6.
The reason lay largely in Gainesville. Florida beat No. 4 Ole Miss 52-28 and jumped from No. 21 to No. 8. Ole Miss fell to No. 9, while BYU held the final top-10 spot. LSU moved from No. 10 to No. 11, just five poll points behind BYU. Texas A&M dropped out of the rankings.
LSU’s defense made its case on the field. It held Aggies quarterback Marcel Reed to 106 passing yards and minus-13 rushing yards, and Texas A&M managed only two field goals. Sam Leavitt threw for 312 yards and two touchdowns; Jackson Harris caught six passes for 163 yards and both scores. The win put LSU at 3-1 overall and 1-1 in Southeastern Conference play, a week after its loss at Ole Miss.
The result also showed how crowded the race around the top 10 has become. Florida’s 13-place leap was the weekend’s biggest move. Texas remained No. 1 after a 20-17 win at Tennessee, followed by Georgia and Notre Dame. Ole Miss was the only top-10 team to lose. Farther down the poll, losses by USC, Penn State, Tennessee, Louisville, Michigan and Missouri helped reshape the rankings.
LSU was No. 11 in the coaches poll as well, though that ranking held steady from the previous week. The Tigers host McNeese on Saturday, Oct. 3, at 6:45 p.m. Central on SEC Network.
